General News
13 July, 2024
Duck Creek races "So good!"
“So good, so good, so good!” 5200 people sang ‘Sweet Caroline’ in glorious weather at the Duck Creek races on Saturday, July 6, 2024 before partying well into the night at the Nyngan showground.
It was the biggest crowd in the 16-year history of the race meeting, which has grown to become one of the hottest events in western NSW. Online event ticketer 123tix presold 5300 tickets to the races (double the population of the entire Bogan shire) including 800 tickets to the exclusive Duck Pond which were snapped up in less than half an hour of going on sale.
By mid-morning of race day, there were cars queued for kilometres awaiting entry and by 4pm there were more than 5000 people trackside to sing Neil Diamond’s iconic ‘Sweet Caroline’, which is sung at sporting events around the world, including The Everest race-meeting at Randwick.
Races president Rowen Cleaver praised the many volunteers who pulled together to bring the day to life.
“Every year we get people coming in and giving hours and hours of their time to help set up, and then on the day they’re there on the gates, behind the bar, selling drink tickets, cooking barbeques, and cleaning up after everyone has gone. It’s what makes the event so successful. Everyone is behind us making it work,” he said.
“I think for a lot of volunteers, especially the young ones, they’re out having fun while they do it. They come in and help put up fencing and set up tables and chairs and they get a free lunch and catch up with each other. It’s a really great thing.”
“There’s so many organisations to thank. The Nyngan Rugby Club (Bogan Bulls) work all night on the bar and the set up and clean up, the Nyngan Junior League do the barbeque, the Nyngan Pony Club, ICPA, Bogan Shire Council, Nyngan Police, and the ambulance all go above and beyond."
Mr Cleaver also praised the behaviour of the crowd including the 2000 plus who camped at the showground.
“It was the biggest crowd we have ever had and they were extremely well behaved,” he said.
He is hoping the ‘Sweet Caroline’ singalong will gain even more momentum next year and is considering adding Daryl Braithwaite’s ‘The Horses’ to the mix.
Sergeant Tony Wood from Nyngan Police said the Duck Creek races had become a “model of how to run a safe and enjoyable event”.
“It was an extraordinary success. I’ve spoken with the local ambulance staff and they had no reports of assaults, drink spiking or anything that would indicate anti-social behaviour. The Nyngan hospital also reported no presentations from Duck Creek,” Sgt Wood said.
“It was a very well managed event which was a credit to the organisers, volunteers, and security staff.” The races also brought a surge of business for the local hospitality industry, filling up all available accommodation and keeping the supermarkets, service stations, and cafes busy over the weekend.
It was the first big test for the newly opened hotel, The Nyngan which provided accommodation, lunch, dinner, drinks and a recovery breakfast to racegoers.
“This week we poured 17 kegs of beer, served hundreds of glasses of wine and spirits, made 75 cocktails, served over 500 meals and at least 100 pizzas,” said Emily Stanton. “We were run off our feet – so busy! But it all went really well and we got great feedback from everyone.”
For a second year the major charity for the Duck Creek races was Macquarie Home Stay, which is an accommodation facility in Dubbo for patients and their families needing to access health services including Dubbo Base Hospital, the Western Cancer Centre, and the private hospitals.
Macquarie Home Stay general manager Rod Crowfoot said there was terrific support for the raffle and thanked the Duck Creek Committee for again choosing the facility as its main charity. Macquarie Home Stay will name one of its new rooms in honour of Duck Creek races, which donated $40,000 in 2023. As usual, the place to be was the Duck Pond – for which tickets sold out in hours by pre-sale. Patrons there were treated to lunch catered by Eat Your Greens and cocktails by Josephine’s.
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